Sierra Nevada filed a formal protest to GAO in early October, 2014, with regards to the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability Contract (CCtCap) decision. Yesterday January 5th, GAO affirmed that NASA had followed the released process to award the contracts. SpaceX and Boeing will continue development under CCtCap, while Sierra Nevada will not be under the contract. Sierra Nevada intends to continue development of the Dream Chaser regardless of GAO’s decision.

Orbital Sciences will trade the AJ26 Russian-originated engine in the current model of Antares for the Russian-made RD-181. This is not the RD-180 used for U.S. military launches and which made headlines last year as tensions between the U.S. and Russia escalated. Orbital Sciences claimed on Twitter that the RD-181 is the “only propulsion system that enables us [Orbital Sciences] to complete cargo commitments to @NASA under #CRS contract by end of 2016.”

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